In a significant development for global cybersecurity, Brazilian federal police have announced the arrest of the notorious hacker known as USDoD. This individual, responsible for several high-profile breaches including the FBI’s InfraGard program and National Public Data, was apprehended as part of Operation Data Breach on October 16th in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
The USDoD’s Notorious Cyber Attacks
USDoD gained infamy for orchestrating numerous large-scale cyber attacks, often exfiltrating sensitive data and subsequently leaking it online while taunting victims. One of the most significant breaches attributed to USDoD was the compromise of the FBI’s InfraGard program, an information-sharing initiative with over 80,000 participants aimed at disseminating confidential national security and cybersecurity threat information among government officials and private sector representatives managing U.S. critical infrastructure.
Another major attack carried out by USDoD targeted National Public Data, a prominent data broker. This breach resulted in the exposure of nearly 3 billion records containing personal information of American citizens. The attack’s fallout was so severe that National Public Data recently filed for bankruptcy.
The Path to Identification and Arrest
The breakthrough in identifying USDoD came after the hacker attacked cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike and leaked an internal list of hacking groups compiled by the company’s specialists. Shortly after this incident, Brazilian publication Techmundo received an anonymous tip suggesting that CrowdStrike had identified USDoD as a 33-year-old Brazilian named Luan (Luan BG).
In an unexpected turn of events, USDoD confirmed this information in an interview with HackRead, stating, “Congratulations to Crowdstrike for doxing me, but they’re late to the party. Intel421 Plus and several other companies have already doxed me even before the Infragard hack.” This admission likely aided Brazilian federal police in locating and apprehending the hacker.
Operation Data Breach: The Culmination of a Global Manhunt
The Brazilian federal police initiated Operation Data Breach to investigate attacks on their systems and those of other international institutions. According to their press release, authorities executed a search warrant and a preventive arrest warrant in Belo Horizonte against the suspect believed to be responsible for two data leaks from the federal police on May 22, 2020, and February 22, 2022.
The suspect, now confirmed to be USDoD, had boasted online about being responsible for numerous cyberattacks worldwide and claimed to have exposed confidential data of 80,000 InfraGard participants. This arrest marks a significant victory in the ongoing battle against cybercrime and highlights the importance of international cooperation in tracking down sophisticated threat actors.
As cybersecurity threats continue to evolve, this arrest serves as a reminder of the persistent efforts by law enforcement agencies worldwide to combat cybercrime. It also underscores the critical need for organizations and individuals to remain vigilant and implement robust security measures to protect sensitive information from increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks.
